Intervening forces – whether officially "occupiers" or not – have a duty to create or support existing rule of law institutions in post-conflict states, according to the the fourth paper in the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Expeditionary Economics Research Series. A combined reading of international humanitarian and international human rights law presented in the paper implies that intervening forces are, in fact, obliged to take this action. Both the Law of Occupation established by the Hague (IV) Convention and international human rights law (HRL) contain language that occupying forces must "ensure" the basic rights of citizens of occupied areas. Dahl suggests that preservation of life, privacy, property and bodily integrity be the rights used in developing a policing strategy for stabilizing forces.

This paper details the U.S. Army−established School of Military Government and its related Civil Affairs Training Program that prepared forces for occupational duties in Europe and Asia. It highlights the demonstrated effectiveness both of its curriculum and approach to education and of its impact on the occupation of Germany and Japan, which offer important lessons for today’s military faced with similar challenges. If nation building, particularly with economic growth as a key component, is to assume a greater role as a component of foreign policy or national security strategy, it needs to consume a greater role of our planning, analysis, and organizational design. Civil Affairs and several other functional areas within the military play a significant role in aspects of nation building today and would benefit from education focused on such matters. Other beneficial initiatives would include creating a mechanism for drawing experts into and out of the military to serve as nation-builders at a level commensurate with their experience, providing a more effective and less expensive option than hiring contractors.

This Joint Forces Quarterly article by Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, lays out the case for Expeditionary Economics as a means for economic development, by which the people of a given country own the economy, rather than the focus being on large-scale reconstruction projects with little connection to the local population.

Expeditionary Economics doctrine holds that economic growth is a critical component of long-term stability, each enabling the other: development is impossible without stability and stability is unsustainable without economic growth. Moreover, the most effective path to growth in areas in conflict is to focus on forming firms that can generate rapid revenue growth and employment opportunities. While the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) has advanced security and stability, its use as a tool of economic development has been criticized. Still, the U.S. military uses "money as a weapon system" and likely will continue to do so in future engagements. Based on 8 years of quantitative and anecdotal data, there are lessons to be learned on improving CERP. The authors examine the origins of CERP, as well as its successes and shortcomings as a tool for economic stabilization and security. Recommendations include engaging more effectively with local business and government leaders, improving collaboration with other coalition actors, increasing transparency, and placing emphasis on economic outcomes rather than process. Furthermore, while being cognizant of the security function of the program, CERP should support local entrepreneurs.

Despite decades of conflict, corruption and insecurity, Afghanistan has unrecognized and untapped economic potential in its private sector, according to "Bactrian Gold," the second paper in the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation's Expeditionary Economics Research Series. To inform the debate over how best to develop Afghanistan's private sector, "Bactrian Gold" authors Jake Cusack and Erik Malmstrom interviewed more than 130 business owners and economic stakeholders in the Afghan cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat, traveling without security or organizational affiliation to better understand the Afghan people's perspectives.

In the first paper in the series, Kauffman authors Dane Stangler and Rebecca Patterson build on the argument established in Carl Schramm’s Foreign Affairs article by detailing how ExpECON’s key tenets differ from current development principles, and outlining prescriptions for a more effective development effort.

The authors also highlight facets of ExpECON requiring further study, including systems for measuring economic impact, the organizational structure of foreign aid, potential for preventive defense, enabling requisite military education, and issues in political economy.

At a time when Afghanistan, Iraq and Haiti were struggling with economic reconstruction efforts, Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, proposed a new model for how the U.S. should prepare for and engage following foreign conflicts and natural disasters. In an article in the May/June 2010 issue of Foreign Affairs (PDF) Schramm built Kauffman research to introduce and underscore the importance of "expeditionary economics," which speaks to the challenge of igniting and sustaining economic growth during and especially after major conflicts.